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Fiction. Mystery. Thriller. Historical Fiction. HTML: In the tradition of The Nightingale, Sarah's Key, and Lilac Girls, comes a saga inspired by true events of a Holocaust survivor's quest to return to Poland and fulfill a promise, from Ronald H. Balson, author of the international bestseller Once We Were Brothers. ~~ "Readers who crave more books like Balson's Once We Were Brothers and Kristin Hannah's bestselling The Nightingale will be enthralled by Karolina's Twins." â??Booklist (starred review) "A heart-wrenching but ultimately triumphant story." â??Chicago Tribune ~~ She made a promise in desperation Now it's time to keep it Lena Woodward, elegant and poised, has lived a comfortable life among Chicago Society since she immigrated to the US and began a new life at the end of World War II. But now something has resurfaced that Lena cannot ignore: an unfulfilled promise she made long ago that can no longer stay buried. Driven to renew the quest that still keeps her awake at night, Lena enlists the help of lawyer Catherine Lockhart and private investigator Liam Taggart. Behind Lena's stoic facade are memories that will no longer be contained. She begins to recount a tale, harkening back to her harrowing past in Nazi-occupied Poland, of the bond she shared with her childhood friend Karolina. Karolina was vivacious and beautiful, athletic and charismatic, and Lena has cherished the memory of their friendship her whole life. But there is something about the story that is unfinished, questions that must be answered about what is true and what is not, and what Lena is willing to risk to uncover the past. Has the real story been hidden these many years? And if so, why? Two girls, coming of age in a dangerous time, bearers of secrets that only they could share. Just when you think there could not be anything new to ferret out from World War II comes Karolina's Twins, a spellbinding new novel by the bestselling author of Once We Were Brothers and Saving Sophie. In this richly woven tale of love, survival and resilience during some of the darkest hours, the unbreakable bond between girlhood friends will have consequences into the future and beyond… (more)
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Given the hype this author has
Apparently I’m not like most folks. Maybe books one and two were better. However, this one was a chore to get through, even up to the point of the 20% where I dropped it. Except for a few scenes between Catherine and Liam, the entire first 20% was one huge information dump in the form of a lawyer interview, conveying Lena’s story of Holocaust survival.
While the information and story doesn’t lend itself to boredom, I found myself slogging through one endless conversation. I couldn’t immerse myself into Lena’s story as we were just told everything. The sights, sounds, and emotions of that suspenseful tale were lost in the format in which they were told. I never thought I’d come across a book that would make the Holocaust boring, but this book accomplished that.
Sad to say I wasn’t thrilled with this one, especially since I dropped it so quickly. The endless slog of a lawyer interview/conversation that lasted chapters killed it quickly. Maybe if the author had chosen a different layout or format to tell the story. Who knows? I might give books one and two a look; maybe I’ll get the author’s writing style and Catherine’s and Liam’s characters better then. Sad I started with this one, though.
Note: Book received for free from publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Lena Woodward hires Liam Taggart and Catherine Lockhart, husband and wife with separate law practices in Chicago to track down her dear friend, Karolina’s two daughters. In order to get clues about where they might be, Lena needs to tell her Holocaust story. Lena is now 89 and her son thinks that Karolina and the children are imaginary and it would her and the estate to waste money on the hunt and have people not turn up. Her son is a minor character seems to be a device to propel the story forward at a faster speed.
The characters of Liam and Catherine stayed in the background a lot, their conversations with what Liam was finding in his investigation helps to make the story more concrete. Lena starts at the beginning in Poland when her father had a shop. He was WWI war hero and well respected. Lena relates how she followed her father’s instructions to hide when the Nazis came to arrest him and his family. Her story is a lot about survival and the will to live. You can feel her fear of being alone with not knowing what was going on and if anyone she knew was still living. When she is in the sewing factory, you are wondering if she would survive and why she survived. As the story progress, the story shows how the life of the women in the factory became worse and worse as the war progress. The fear of being caught protecting someone, helping someone were enormous.
I am very thankful to read this story and to know that that Fay Schaf Waldman survived. Ronald H. Balson wrote this story of survival and love with great care and sensitivity. I highly recommend to all who want to learn as much as possible about the Holocaust. Also, since I am impressed with his writing, I now want to read all that this author has written.
I received an Advanced Reading copy of this book from the Publisher as a win from FirstReads but that in no way made a difference in my thoughts
There is a particular reason that it is time to honor an unfulfilled promise she made long ago.
She requests
I was thoroughly engaged in the life story of Lena Scheinman.
Chrzanow, Poland was her birthplace (1924), the earlier years of loving familial covenant are in place and the story develops with fervor as Germany invades Poland in 1939.
Love, survival and resilience are the cornerstone of this novel,
Nazi-occupied Poland and the bond Lena shared with her childhood friend, Karolina are developed in rich detail.
There is, of course, specific emphasis on the Jewish population and the injustice dealt them under Nazi occupation.
There is a subplot, which will be successfully resolved.
Lena's son Arthur has reason to pursue a declaration of incompetence for his mother.
I found this rewarding historical fiction.
Balson successfully transported me to this era and I came away
enlightened.
The following is an author acknowledgment:
"Karolina's Twins is a work of fiction.
The story was inspired by the life of Fay Scharf Waldman.
....Karolina's Twins is not intended to be a biographical account of Fay's life.
Lena Woodward is a fictional character. who experienced many of the travails described to me by Fay, but, some of the episodes,mthough authentic in their occurrence to others, did not involve Fay,"
The author has also drawn upon memoirs, Yizkor Books, museum
archives and personal stories conveyed to the author.
I hope I have encouraged you to review the history of World WarII Poland and engage in a heart warming/breaking tale.
4.5 ★
Thank you to Reading Group Gold who provided my copy to read and review.
The book is very dark, as are all books about this time period, but there are also some bright spots in the modern story line. I found the characters interesting, especially Lena and I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It's one that you won't want to put down until the end.
My only complaint is that there is no mention in the blurbs for this book that it is part of a series. There are a lot of references to previous cases that Catherine and Liam worked on and it would have been nice to have read those books previous to this one. I plan to go back and read them now.
(Thanks to Book Browse for a copy of this book for a fair and honest review.)
Lena Woodward lived in Poland during the holocaust, lost her entire family, but did find her best friend, Karolina, in the factory where
We are there as Lena tells of her experiences to an attorney and private investigator in hopes of getting the help she needs to fulfill the promise she made to her friend Karolina to find her twins.
Lena Woodard made a promise to her friend 70 years ago, and now at the age of 89 decided to tell her story and to try to find Karolina's children that sadly had to be abandoned because of the situation they were in.
When Lena's son finds out she is telling her story, he causes problems because he is worried about his inheritance being taken by the attorney and the investigator even though he indicates his concern is only with his mother's welfare.
As Lena's story unfolded for her attorney, Catherine, we re-lived with her the terror and atrocities committed by the Nazis, and we learned that there was a secret Lena had been keeping for 70 years.
Lena and Catherine were two characters I loved. They were strong, determined women. Liam was fun. Arthur, Lena's son, was not pleasant. I truly enjoyed the interaction of the characters both present day and past as Lena told her story.
KAROLINA'S TWINS flowed very nicely, and was another well-researched book by Mr. Balson. Mr. Balson has a marvelous writing style and a knack for keeping readers interested by combining facts with human interest.
Mr. Balson indicated that his book is fiction, but it is similar to the life of Fay Scharf Waldman whom he met after writing his first book.
World War II buffs will add yet another layer to their interest and desire to learn the truth. 5/5
This book was given to me free of charge and without compensation by the publisher in return for an honest review.
At 89 years of age, Lena Woodward might be feeling the physical effects of her advanced years but her mind is still sharp as a tack. Realizing she is running out of time to fulfill a long ago promise, she contacts Liam and Catherine to help her locate her childhood friend Karolina Neuman's twin daughters whom she has not seen since they were just a few months old. Lena and Karolina are childhood friends whose lives were torn apart when the Nazis invaded their hometown in Poland.
Forced to work as seamstresses in a coat factory, the young women manage, with the help of Karolina's German lover, to survive extreme conditions. Not long after Karolina gives birth to twin daughters, the coat factory shuts down and the women are sent to Gross-Rosen concentration camp where they are forced to work as slave labor. Knowing the babies' fate if they arrive at the camp, Lena and Karolina take drastic measures that will hopefully save the girls from a horrific fate. After surviving Auschwitz, Lena marries and moves to the United State but the fate of Karolina's twins weighs heavily on her mind.
Needing to know whether or not the girls survived, Lena hopes Liam and Catherine can trace the girls' whereabouts. However, her son Arthur is convinced she is suffering from dementia and his efforts to have her declared incompetent could interfere with their efforts. After so many years have passed and hampered by the impending court case, will Liam and Catherine uncover the truth about what happened to Karolina's twins?
Lena's life in Poland was rather idyllic in the years before the Nazi occupation. Her parents are well-respected shop owners in the Jewish community where they live a rather comfortable life. Her friendship with Karolina begins while they are attending public school together and although Lena eventually transfers to a private school, they remain close friends.
As the Nazis begin rising to power, Lena's father starts making arrangements for the family to immigrate from Poland, but the Germans invade Poland before they are able to leave. Stripped of their business and forced to adhere to the strict rules all Jews must follow, Lena's father is a member of the Polish resistance. After he and the rest of the family are selected for "relocation", Lena, now a teenager, remains in hiding until their home is taken over by Germans and she begins searching for her missing family.
Finding shelter in the ghetto, she works in the coat factory where she is reunited with Karolina. Conditions are almost unbearable as the young women live without running water, electricity and heat as they work long hours in the factory. Food is strictly rationed and as winter descends, the harsh weather and poor nutrition take a horrific toll on the people living in the ghetto.
In the midst of this unimaginable horror, the birth of Karolina's twins is an unexpected bright spot but as the war continues, the Nazis put their plans in motion to exterminate the Jews. More and more Jews are sent to concentration camps where children, the elderly and the infirm are separated and sent to their deaths. Those who are healthy are selected to work as slave labor but their lives are often cut short as malnutrition, harsh living conditions and illness take their toll. Knowing full well what will happen to the babies, the women make a split second decision to try to save them from certain death but this choice haunts Lena for the most of her life.
Interspersed with Lena's account of her wartime experiences is Arthur's effort to have her declared incompetent. He is quite odious and it is difficult to ascertain his motives for the case. Is Arthur genuinely concerned for his mother's health? Or are his reasons financially motivated due to his mother's wealth? His heavy-handed tactics and sneering conversations certainly cloud the issue and leave everyone wondering what he hopes to accomplish with his actions.
Although some of the dialogue is a little awkward and the court case is a little overly dramatic (and unnecessary), Karolina's Twins is an absolutely compelling novel about Lena's experiences as a Jewish woman living in Nazi occupied Poland. Ronald H. Balson deftly blends fact with fiction and brings this fictionalized account of actual events vibrantly to life. This poignant story is a gripping and educational read that I highly recommend.